Great Design Plant: Boxwood

This elegant evergreen can shape shift into forms limited only by a gardener's imagination and a clipper's reach

Houzz Contributor. Hi There! I currently live in a 1920s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe as "collected."
I got into design via Landscape Architecture, which I studied at the University of Virginia. I've been writing about design online for quite a few years over at Hatch: The Design Public Blog.

Houzz Contributor. Hi There! I currently live in a 1920s cottage in Atlanta... More

Boxwood claimed its place in the American landscape hundreds of years ago. The English brought it over to the colony of Virginiaback in the 1700s, so it's had lots of time to claim primo placement at landmarks like Mount Vernon, Colonial Williamsburg, the University of Virginia grounds and the White House.

This stately (estate-ly) plant forms elegant evergreen hedges that outline and give structure to beautiful gardens and larger landscapes all over the area. Its leaves on one side are shiny and glossy year-round, more textured and lighter on the underside. Boxwood takes on beautiful shapes, whether it's part of a manicured composition or allowed to go wild as it ages. This plant will require some patience due to its slow growth, but the rewards are worth the wait.

Botanical name: Buxus sempervirensCommon name: BoxwoodUSDA zones: 5 to 9 (find your zone)Water requirement: This plant is quite drought tolerant.Light requirement: Partial shade to full sunMature size: Technically, boxwood can get to about 10 feet high and 10 feet wide, but it is a very slow-growing plant.Benefits and tolerances: Boxwood is somewhat drought tolerant and should not be left sitting in standing water due to its short roots. If you are in a hot climate, try to give it partial shade; if you are closer to the northern zone limits, give it full sun.Seasonal interest: This is an evergreen plant that has very glossy deep green leaves year-round.When to plant: Ideally in the fall, but you can plant it in mid to late spring, after the last frost.Photo: Buxus Sempervirens ‘Green Mountain’

Distinguishing traits. Boxwood is evergreen and has small glossy green leaves year-round. The leaves are dark on top and lighter on the undersides. It also takes to shaping very well, so it is an excellent choice for hedges.

Boxwood has long been the number-one choice for formal hedges. Because it is evergreen, it can give your garden a verdant structure year-round. It also takes to shaping very well, whether you want to shape a rectangular hedge, conical shrubs, rounded balls or a Bart Simpson–shaped topiary.

Boxwood grows slowly, which means you'll need to be patient; it won't shoot up to its potential 10 to 12 feet for decades and decades. This is what young boxwood plants look like at first.

While boxwood is worth the wait, if you are impatient, Japanese Holly (Ilex crenata), which has a similar look to boxwood but is much faster growing, might be for you. It will need more pruning than boxwood as it matures, and while it's a lovely plant, it's not quite as elegant as boxwood.

What to plant with it. If you've shaped your boxwood hedge to have a crisp, manicured edge, you may want to have some softer forms adjacent to it for contrast, like mounds of mondo grass. If the boxwood marks a line between lawn and woodland, it is a nice contrast to woodland shrubs with natural undulating silhouettes like rhododendrons.

If you are framing ornamental trees, dogwoods and redbuds look wonderful with boxwood. Other evergreens create a wonderfully rich, year-round texture palette with boxwood.

If you are using boxwood to border a knot garden or a kitchen garden, it will provide a green frame around an explosion of colorful herbs and perennials. The verdant green leaves will always provide great color contrast.

Unfortunately boxwood are in decline in the state of CT due to a fungal spread. It is spread via spores through wind and the spores can stick on clothing/shoes. Be careful not to spread the fungi to other states when back from CT.

Several varieties of boxwood are hardy to zone 4. tati points out an important caution -- boxwood blight can destroy all your plants in a very short time; there is no treatment at this time, and it spreads very easily. As of June 2012 the disease had been confirmed as far west as Ohio. If you see your entire plant(s) drops all its leaves and you see black spots and streaks, get rid of the plants. Do not compost them. There is good info at the Univ of Virginia extension website: http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/PPWS/PPWS-4/PPWS-4.html.

I love boxwood! I have small boxwood hedges, boxwood as accent plants and boxwood in containers. The fact that they are slow growers makes them so much easier to maintain than faster growing shrubs. Plus, I think they're so darn cute when they're small, if a plant can be considered cute! :-)

The only drawback I've found, which was pointed out to me by someone who didn't like boxwood, was their tendency to smell like cat pee when wet! Pew!

If you have a hot dry climate Japanese Box is more tolerant than English Box. It is very drought tolerant, has brighter glossy dark lime colour leaves and clips brilliantly as well. You can achieve the same hedging effects as English Box. It is much faster growing. I am in Southern Australia and we have switched almost all our box hedging from English (still have some very happily growing in a sheltered position) to Japanese Box. Worth a try if you English box is struggling in heat.

My Grandmother had a small boxwood "maze" in her back yard in south Georgia while I was growing up. Many historic homes are landscaped with boxwood. So I looove the smell of boxwood.Pungent, herbal, brings back childhood and the feeling you get in elegant gardens!